Andrew Spira: Ita Buttrose’s great nephew lists Vaucluse apartment

Andrew Spira. Supplied/Facebook

Entrepreneur Andrew Spira who allegedly went on a “drug-induced” crime spree has listed his harbourside unit with a guide that’s $85k less then he bought it for five months ago.

Spira, 24, has been accused of using fake credit card details to travel Darwin and allegedly attempting to illegally obtain a passport in order to leave the country, was granted bail on his second attempt in Darwin Local Court three weeks ago.

On May 30, he made a shock statement to a Darwin Court that his mother, one-time socialite Lizzie Buttrose, had introduced him to methamphetamines at the age of 14, which Buttrose has denied.

Spira bought the one-bedder for $985,000 on April 9 via Biller agents Calvin Stewart and Julia Barta.

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1/28 The Crescent, Vaucluse is a ground-floor one-bedder but in a top location.

It’s in a popular Art Deco block.

There are harbour glimpses from the bedroom.

A week ago, the apartment turned up on realestate.com.au, this time with Stewart and Biller principal Paul Biller.

When contacted, Stewart said his vendor was selling up after less than five months because of “personal circumstances” and a title search showed Spira was the owner.

The listing comes after the Vaucluse home he owned with former partner, Julia Maguire, sold for about $10m through Biller.

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The millionaire socialite and founder at loan-broker business Pineapple Funding is the great nephew of ABC chair Ita Buttrose.

At his first bail application on May 24, Spira reportedly told the court: “My area of judgement was completely flawed by drugs unfortunately … I’m willing to forfeit everything I have to the court in return for bail.”

The kitchen is compact but neat.

The bathroom is conveniently located close to the bedroom.

But at that hearing, bail was refused because there was too much risk of him fleeing.

Successfully arguing for bail on August 3, Spira’s lawyer, Nicholas Goddfellow, told the Darwin local court that his client’s time on remand had been a “circuit breaker” for him.

The court heard that Spira “spiralled” after the breakdown of a long-term relationship and had a period of “drug-induced psychosis”.

He had no memory of the last few months because of a complete misuse of ice.

Despite the price guide of $900,000, Stewart said he was confident that the apartment would fetch the same price as what his vendor had paid in April.

“We’ve had 25 groups through the apartment, with 16 on the weekend and nine more this week,” he said.

He said it was a standout apartment due to its water glimpses and harbourside location, just 100m from Parsley Bay. There’s also potential, subject to council permission, to convert it to a two-bedder.

Generally, though, he said apartments priced below $2m faced a lot of competition as investors impacted by interest rate rises flooded the market.

“Buyers will have a lot to choose from this spring,” Stewart said.